Zack's Analysis of "We do Abortions Here"

Zack Yancey
WRTG 150, sec. 105
17 October 2011

“We Do Abortions Here” Critical Analysis

There are few topics more controversial than abortion. The merits and morality of legalizing and having an abortion can and have been argued to no end. However, there’s one part of the story that’s often overlooked. In “We Do Abortions Here: A Nurse’s Story,” Sallie Tisdale uses strong appeals to pathos in the form of specific stories and vivid imagery, as well as conflicting imagery and themes to effectively convey the moral and psychological conflict that comes with working in an abortion clinic to those who haven’t ever been in such a situation, before finally asserting her position on the matter.

Throughout her essay, Tisdale relates several accounts about her experiences with different clients at the clinic. She tells stories of “An eighteen-year-old woman pregnant for the fourth time... [who] has been so hungry for her drug that she has taken to using the loose skin of her upper arms” (183), “a sleepy-eyed girl, just 14... with a slight and goofy smile” (185), and “a 16-year-old uneducated girl who was raped” (185). These stories show the many backgrounds from which women come for abortions, and are intended to evoke sympathy in the reader for these women. Tisdale does this so that the reader can better understand her feelings of compassion towards the women. She seems to be arguing, with concern for the mother in mind, that abortion is a necessary practice.

While her stories make it appear that Tisdale believes abortion to be beneficial, her descriptions of the process itself indicate otherwise. Tisdale uses vivid imagery and detailed descriptions of the bloody procedure and its aftermath. She describes the actual fetus as such: “When I look into the basin, among the curdlike blood clots, I see an elfin thorax, attenuated, its pencil line ribs all in parallel rows with tiny knobs of spine rounding upwards. A translucent arm and hand swim beside” (185). She also recalls a fellow worker describing a particularly developed abortion as “just like a little kitten... Everything was still attached.” (188) These descriptions remind the reader that although potentially a threat to the mother, these fetuses are still living things. The descriptions quickly jerk the reader into a realization of the brutal nature of the practice of abortion, and leads the reader to share in Tisdale’s feelings of guilt.

The conflict between the sympathy Tisdale feels for the mothers and the brutallity of the abortions is also evident in Tisdale’s choice of diction. She often puts conflicting words together when referring to the practice of abortion. She calls it a “sweet brutality,” a “loving dispassion.” (183) She claims to be “struck by the sameness and... by the variety” (184) of the clinic. These conflicting, almost oxymoronic statements show the confusion Tisdale has about her own feelings towards abortion.

The conflict of ideas isn’t just limited to Tisdale’s choice of diction. Throughout her essay, Tisdale switches between talking about the necessity of abortions and the guilt behind them. She logically justifies abortion, describing the fetus as “at least incovenient, sometimes quite literally dangerous” (187) and as “a thing whose creation has been actively worked against. Its existence is an error” (187). However, she also feels guilty for facilitating the abortion. Looking at the fetus in an ultrasound, she comments that she “[knows] how heavy and correct a newborn cradled feels. The creature... requires nothing from [her] but to be left alone” (187). Her guilt also manifests itself in the form of “fetus dreams”:
dreams of abortions one after the other; of buckets of blood splashed on the walls; trees full of crawling fetuses. I dreamed that two men grabbed me and began to drag me away. ‘Let’s do an abortion’ they said with a sickening leer, and I began to scream, plunged into a vision of sucking, scraping pain, and being spread and torn by impartial instruments that do only what they are bidden. (188)
By switching back and forth between logically asserting that abortion is necessary and reflecting on her guilt, Tisdale effectively conveys to the reader the torn mental state that results from working in an abortion clinic.

Despite her internal conflict, Tisdale does come to a conclusion at the end of her essay. She decides that abortion is painful, but necessary. “Abortion,” she explains, “requires of me an entirely new set of assumptions. It requires a willingness to live with conflict, fearlessness, and grief. As I close the freezer door, I imagine a world where this won’t be necessary, then return to the world where it is.” (189) She asserts that although abortions are difficult to live with, they are something that must be lived with.

For Tisdale, working in an abortion clinic is the cause of much conflict and confusion. In “We Do Abortions Here,” she attempts to convey this conflicted mental state to her audience-- and does so successfully. She also asserts that, although uncomfortable, abortions are important. Despite her guilt and the nightmares it gives her, she continues to do what she does because of her compassion for the women who need her.